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David McK (3600 KP) rated The Winter King in Books

Sep 4, 2020  
The Winter King
The Winter King
Bernard Cornwell | 1995 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
6
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The first of Bernard Cornwell's so-called Warlord trilogy novels, which are a retelling/reimagining of the King Arthur Legend.

These are also novels that - despite being the author's own personal favourites of the (many) novels he has written - I have struggled with, never really getting into them or feeling any connection with the story or character in the same way as I do towards Uhtred of Bebbanburg, or to Richard Sharpe.

I don't know whether that's because these are so different than I was originally expecting (the magic and mysticism of the tales, here, are more to do with superstition and ignorance), or whether because it may be fairer to call these a tale of Derfel, who narrates the story in later life in a monastery and how - here- he first came to the service of Arthur, the King that never was.

Maybe also because of the Dark Ages setting, which - obviously, since so little is known of that period (hence the name Dark Ages!) - means that Cornwell can't really bring history to life like he does in most of his other works?